Sunday 14 March 2010

Tamburello

I mentioned in an earlier post (Flowers BTR) some thoughts I penned before, about the late great racing driver Ayrton Senna, the Brazilian who was killed when he crashed out of the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.

Senna was one of the drivers that captured my imagination with his raw talent, speed, and the way he drove in an uncompromising style. I wrote the words after I read an article in a magazine a few years later about what happens every Grand Prix at that track at the corner where he died.  The corner, as is the piece, is called Tamburello.

As I type, F1 is back in full swing as drivers and machines today hammered round the circuit in Bahrain. At the start of every season, my thoughts always turn to those that didn’t make it through to the end of a race, or a season with their lives intact. It seems a pretty high price to pay for getting to do something you love.

That weekend, Senna was not the only one to lose his life.  Austrian Roland Razenberger died during qualifying as his damaged front wing broke off and went underneath his car. This caused his crash at the Gilles Villenueve turn and ultimately his death.  Senna was to die the following day as he crashed out when leading the race.  For racing drivers of today, Tamburello is no longer what it was.  For those that remember, Tamburello will always be something else.

So in honour of Ayrton Senna, and many, many others who lost their life in a racing car, I thought I’d share Tamburello with you today, 7 days from what would have been his 50th birthday.

Tamburello

Let me take you to a little corner of the world
Where the faithful gather and a flag’s unfurled
Let me take you to a little corner of the world

They take their place in silence, no words at all to say
And remember him, their hero, on this special day
They take their place in silence, no words at all to say

Watch them gather
At the wall
Hoping that he hears
Their silent call
Praying that
He still stands tall

I want to take a journey to that corner of the world
Stand with the faithful as his flag’s unfurled
I want to take that journey

To stand with them in silence, no words at all to say
Remember him, my hero, on this tragic day
I want to stand with them, no words to say

Watch them gather
At the wall
Hoping that he hears
Their silent call
Praying that
He still stands tall

I will go and gather
At Tamburello’s wall
Hoping that he hears
My silent call
Knowing that
He still stands tall
For me he still stands tall

No comments:

Post a Comment